Varadkar to be a named witness in case taken by 16 lesbian women and gay men

Kaja Godek in May described Taoiseach’s homosexuality as a ‘perversion’ during television discussion

Libel action was filed on (10th October) at the district court in Warsaw against Kaja Godek due to comments in a television discussion on May 30th following Ireland’s abortion referendum, in which she called Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a 'deviant'.

One of the complainants in the case Jakub Urbanik outside court. Photograph: Marek Misiurewicz

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to be a named witness in a defamation case against a Polish anti-abortion campaigner who described the politician’s homosexuality on television as “perversion”.

The libel action was filed on Wednesday at the district court in Warsaw against Kaja Godek. On May 30th, in a television discussion following Ireland’s abortion referendum, Ms Godek said she was not surprised by the outcome of the vote given Ireland’s prime minister had flaunted his “bizarre” sexual orientation and shown “his perversion to the people”.

Asked by the host if she was saying homosexuals were perverted, Ms Godek continued: “Yes, yes. If the prime minister of Ireland declares that he has a male sexual partner, if it is accepted as normal, it is monstrous that such a country should be defined as a Catholic country.”

In later remarks she described Mr Varadkar’s homosexuality as an “ailment”, prompting a robust response from co-panellist Katarzyna Piekarska, a left-wing politician and Warsaw city councillor.